Red Rose
by Ich bin ein Schmetterling
Summary: Rosalie is a princess, betrothed to Prince Edward. Emmett is a lowly soldier. Shock, horror: they fall in love. Can there be a happy ending?
1. Chapter 1

**I wrote this in Stratford-upon-Avon, the home of Shakespeare :) ****It's set in an imaginary time, in an imaginary place. I may or may not give this place a name in the future. I really hope you like it, R+R please (:**

Rosalie stared out the palace windows at the land which would one day be hers. She took in everything – the beautiful rolling hills, the winding rivers that shimmered like diamonds, the leafless trees swaying delicately in the wind. And the rain. Of course. Out of all the wonderful, exotic countries in the world, she had to inherit the kingdom of clouds. Still, she supposed, it was better than nothing. And once she was on the throne and this awful war had ended, then God would surely be happy and bless this land with sun.

The war, in Rosalie's eyes, had raged on for far too long. It was just a silly squabble between her father and the king of a neighbouring kingdom. Something about the assassination of their prince… She didn't know the details. What she did know was that all her father's money was going into making swords and armour, and replacing the soldiers that had died, and not into buying her more dresses and jewellery. Well, not enough, anyway.

There was a knock at the door.

"You may enter," Rosalie's father said, his voice echoing around the empty room. He and Rosalie sat side by side, otherwise alone in the very large, grand throne room.

The big, oak doors were opened by servants to allow a man inside. The man was tall and handsome, with sandy blonde curly hair framing a strong jaw line and pale complexion. He didn't have the build of a fighter in particular, though he was stronger than a moose and had a sharp, intelligent look in his eyes that made him appear quite formidable to one who did not know him.

Rosalie, however, did know him. He was the general. It was unusual for a woman at that time to be involved in matters such as this, and Rose did not care much for it, but the king liked to educate his daughter in the hope that one day she would be a great ruler in her own right. She wouldn't have minded a bit just going to dances and wearing pretty dresses and getting a husband to take care of such trivialities as running a country.

The general bowed deeply to Rosalie first, saying, "My lady," before turning to the king. He bowed once more, then spoke.

"Humblest apologies for my lateness, sire." When the king remained silent, he hurried on. "I believe I have found a suitable replacement for the late Captain James."

The king nodded. "So who is this soldier?"

"His name is Emmett Cullen, your highness." The general was beginning to feel nervous. The king was a powerful, intimidating man with rather a short temper. One wrong word and his career would be over. Possibly even his life.

"Bring him in," the king commanded.

The big oak doors opened once again to reveal a beast of a man. In contrast to the general, he was big with bulging muscles and curly black hair. His eyes, however, softened the look. They were big and baby blue in colour; in fact, they reminded Rosalie of one of her servants' baby. She found herself instantly warming to him.

He smiled confidently and bowed to the king and princess in turn. "Your highnesses."

"Congratulations on your new job as captain," said the king. Decisions were becoming increasingly rushed for him; there was simply no time anymore. "You will set out with the troops at sunrise. Now, we must devise a battle plan."

Rose tuned out at this point. She was completely uninterested in battle tactics, and found herself gazing at the new captain. He certainly was handsome… Snapping out of it, she realised it probably wasn't a very princess-y thing to do. He wasn't of any noble blood, and princesses were meant for princes, or, at the very least, dukes.

"And when you return in three days time, we shall hold a ball to celebrate," announced the king. Rose perked up at this; a ball would be something to look forward to.

"Thank you sire," said the general. "Now, I must go any prepare the troops. Good day."

He bowed, before turning on his heel and walking smartly out the room, with Captain Cullen following suit.

Once the two men had reached a safe distance, Emmett turned to the general and grinned.

"I cannot thank you enough, Jasper," he said.

"Anything for an old friend," Jasper smiled. "So what did you think of the princess?"

"She's…wow…" Emmett replied, and they both laughed like old friends do.

Back in the throne room, the king rose and started pacing the width of the room. He then turned to Rose and smiled. This in itself surprised her – her father hadn't smiled in a long time. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen him smile since her mother died two years ago.

"Rosalie. My beautiful daughter. I have found you a husband. You are to be married in ten days time."

Rose gasped in joy and ran to hug her father. She was going to be married; this was what she'd looked forward to all her life. Yet despite herself, she couldn't get the image of the handsome new captain with his baby blue eyes out of her head…

"Who is to be my husband?"

"Prince Edward of Viridian. This is a very important marriage bond to make; it could certainly help put an end to this God forsaken war. Edward shall be attending the ball in three days time, so you will be introduced then. His family shall be staying with us prior to the wedding."

Rose nodded. This all seemed to be so final… Not that that mattered; this was everything she'd ever wanted. At least, it was everything she'd thought she wanted.

The door creaked open.

"Ah, Alice," Rose smiled.

"Forgive me for interrupting," said Alice, Rosalie's servant, standing in the doorway, afraid to come any closer to the kind.

"That's all right," the king sight. "I need to get back to work anyways…"

As the king left the room, Alice's face broke into a smile. "Rose, come with me. There's a surprise waiting for you in your room."

Intrigued, Rose followed Alice, who was almost bouncing from excitement, back to her bed chambers. There, lying in the middle of her four poster bed was a single red rose. Rosalie stared speechless at it for a moment, before stepping forward to read the note tied around its stem.

"If I may be so rude as to enquire, what does it say?" Alice asked.

"Alice, you're my friend, of course you may ask. It says, 'To my beautiful princess, I give the second most beautiful rose in the world. Your humble servant.'"

"Wow…"

"I know…"

"Who do you think it's from?"

"It doesn't matter. Father just told me I am to be wed in ten days. To Prince Edward."

Alice gasped. "Oh my goodness, congratulations! That's great!"

Rose raised her eyebrows. "Is it?"

"Of course! A prince, Rose. Just what you've always wanted, right?"

She sighed. "It was… until today. I don't know. It's already been arranged; I can't change anything now. I'm meeting my future husband at the ball in three days."

"Don't worry about it. Trust me, he'll be handsome and charming and amazing!"

"Let's hope so!" Rose laughed, cheering up considerably. "Please get a vase for this rose though, it really is beautiful."

"Sure," Alice smiled, and skipped out the room. Rose watched her leave. She used to be jealous of Alice, being married to General Jasper Hale and being so in love and happy. Not anymore. Soon she would have a _prince_ for a husband. She picked up the rose and inhaled its fine fragrance. Sighing happily, she flopped back down on the bed. Life really was good.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry I haven't updated this one in a while… I hope you enjoy it, anyway.**

Alice entered the room early to wake Rose the next day. She dressed as quickly as possible, for a princess, and two hours later Rose headed outside to bid farewell to the soldiers as they marched off to battle.

It was a cold October morning, and she found herself wrapping her shawl tightly around her bare shoulders. The sun was just beginning to rise, bathing the land in a warm orange glow. Her hair shimmered in the half-light, her skin almost sparkling. This caused quite a few of the soldiers' heads to turn as the walked towards them, but Rose only had eyes for one man.

"Good morning, Princess," Captain Emmet Cullen greeted, leading his horse over to her.

"Lovely to see you again, Captain," she replied, smiling up at him.

"Call me Emmett," he grinned.

"Okay, Emmett. Your horse is beautiful…" She stroked the black war horse's muzzle. Emmett laughed as it recoiled, whinnying and stomping its hooves in protest.

"He doesn't like people," he informed her. "Don't worry about it; it's not your fault."

"What a rude horse," she laughed. Usually this would have annoyed her, but something about this captain's easy charm and laidback nature made her calm down.

"Emmett! We need to set off now, gather your regiment," General Hale called over to Emmett.

"Well, Princess, I must be off. Keep safe, and I will see you at the ball?"

"Yes. Farewell, and return safely. And please, call me Rose," she smiled.

"Rose," he repeated. "A beautiful name for the most beautiful princess."

He bowed, before jumping on the back of his horse, and smiling confidently at her. "Farewell, Rose," he said, kicking the horse so it walked away, over to the general.

"Farewell…" she said softly, but he had already gone. She stayed watching the army leave until they were out of sight, and Alice came outside to tell her of another rose left on her bed. Excited, she followed Alice back inside and sure enough, there on her bed lay another red rose.

"What's the note say this time?" Alice asked, barely containing her excitement.

Rosalie picked up the rose and looked down at the not tied around its stem.

"'To my beautiful princess, I give a second token of my love. My heart aches to be with you; it pains me to be so far away. Until the ball, my love.'"

"Oh my goodness. It's got to be the prince!"

"I hope so… Oh, if it is that will be so romantic!" Rose sighed happily, day dreaming about her prince, before immediately feeling guilty when she imagined his face to look exactly like a certain captain…

"Well, we'll know for sure in two days. I'll be making your dress, I presume?"

"Of course." Rose laughed as she watched Alice's face light up. Alice loved everything to do with clothes, and adored designing and making dresses for Rose, though she couldn't afford any for herself.

"Thank you Rose! Right, put your arms up, I need to take your measurements."

"Again? You did that last month!"

"The design I'm thinking of will look awful if it's even a millimetre too big though!"

"Fine, fine," Rose conceded. It was best to just trust Alice with this.

"Yay!" squealed Alice, pulling a tape measure out of her pocket. Rose rolled her eyes.

Two days, two more red roses and a lot of excitement later, Alice bounded into Rose's bedroom squealing.

"Alice! Please remember that while you're my best friend, you are also my servant and I do need my privacy. Knock next time."

"I'm sorry Rose; I'm just so excited! Tonight is going to be wonderful; I can feel it."

Rose laughed. "You're psychic now? Can't say I'm surprised, actually."

Alice smiled and shrugged. "I just have a sixth sense for these types of things."

"Sure you do. Anyway, can I see this dress you've been obsessing over? The ball starts in less than four hours!"

Alice grinned. "Undress and close your eyes. I'll be back in a second."

She skipped out the room and Rose slid her dress off. Closing her eyes, she waited for Alice to return.

"I'm back! Now don't open your eyes; I want this to be a surprise. Arms up!"

Lifting her arms obediently, Rose felt the soft fabric slide down over her bare skin. She began to open her eyes, but Alice lifted her hand so she couldn't see.

"Wait until I've done your hair and make up, then you'll get the full effect!"

Although Alice couldn't see, Rose rolled her eyes. She sat down on a hand carved antique chair, as Alice prodded, poked, brushed and combed to her heart's content. What seemed like four hours later, Rose was finally led to the full length mirror and allowed to open her eyes. She smiled at her reflection; she looked amazing. Her golden blonde hair cascaded down her back in elegant ringlets; her blue eyes were bright and luminous under Alice's expertly applied make up; her soft red lips were the perfect heart shape on her ghostly white skin. Her dress was simple yet beautiful, in a soft baby blue. It was tight on the bodice, before puffing out into a big skirt, emphasizing her tiny waist. She always looked stunning, she knew that, but she feigned a gasp of surprise so as not to appear conceited.

"Oh Alice; thank you so much!" She ran over to her friend and pulled her into a tight hug. "You've done so well. I love it."

"I knew you would." Alice smiled. "Well go on; enjoy yourself! Go seek happy nights to happy days!"

**Okay, I know the Shakespeare quote ruined that. I couldn't resist though ;D Also, remember this is set in an IMAGINARY TIME. It's not MEANT to be historically accurate.**

**Reviews = love (:**


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